The Immigration Department on Monday confirmed staff at the centre had been moved from the facility for their own safety with small fires lit within the centre, and damage to medical, educational and sports facilities.

Detainees told reporters guards from Serco, the company contracted to secure the centre, had abandoned the centre.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Tuesday that federal police had flown in overnight to stabilise the situation and had been met with little resistance.

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"Nonetheless there's still a core group of criminals who are causing disruption and the Australian Federal Police and Serco guards will deal with that threat in due course," Mr Dutton told reporters at Parliament House.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton oversees a policy of strict controls on Australia's borders, but imagine a world where people were able to move freely to find work or make better lives for themselves. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

"Many of the people on Christmas Island in the detention centre there, bikies, people that have been committed or convicted of manslaughter, of serious grievous bodily harm charges, sexual assault against children," he said.

"And we're not going to tolerate destruction of Commonwealth property and those people that have undertaken that sort of behaviour will face the full force of the law."

The Department of Immigration said in a statement on Tuesday that the centre perimeter for the detention centre "remains secure," and an operation is underway to secure the rest of the site.

"Service provider staff are continuing to negotiate with detainees engaged in protest activity and are methodically re-entering and securing control of compounds within the centre," a department spokesperson said.

"Overnight some detainees not actively participating in the disturbance were moved to a secure part of the facility. However, a group of detainees are continuing to engage in non-compliant behaviour putting themselves and others at risk."

The department confirmed more damage, including as a result of more fires.

In a statement the Australian Federal Police said they had deployed "specialist personnel" on Monday night.

"If required, these personnel will provide assistance to the regular security providers at the facility," the statement said. The AFP would not say how many police officers had been dispatched to the island.